Volocopter has completed the first crewed public test flight with its 2X aircraft in Seoul, South Korea. It was the first crewed public test flight of a fully eVTOL air taxi in the country.

The five minute flight took place at Gimpo International airport, covered a distance of approximately 3,000m and reached a maximum altitude of 50 metres and a maximum speed of 45 km/h. The test flight was part of the MoLIT's UAM demonstration event, 'Open the Urban Sky'.

“With MOLIT's comprehensive K-UAM roadmap, South Korea is well positioned to achieve the goal of commercialising UAM by 2025,” says Volocopter CEO Florian Reuter. "We are extremely honoured to conduct the nation's first crewed public eVTOL test flight today and prove yet again that the future of air taxis is here and now with Volocopter's aircraft. As the pioneers of the UAM industry, we look forward to working closely with friends and partners from both the government agencies and private sectors to make UAM a reality in South Korea.”

Maria Castillo Fernandez, EU ambassador to South Korea, adds: “2021 is a milestone year for EU-South Korea relations as it marks the 10th anniversary of the entry into force of the free trade agreement between the two entities. We welcome continued collaborations in a wide range of sectors.”

Seoul is the second city in Asia where Volocopter has conducted a test flight; the first was a successful public flight trial over Singapore's Marina Bay area in 2019.

Volocopter is developing a family of electrically powered aircraft that can transport passengers (the VoloCity and VoloConnect) and goods (the VoloDrone). It is the only eVTOL company that has obtained design and production organisation approvals (DOA and POA) from EASA)

The company is due to conduct a public test flight at Incheon airport on 16 November (weather permitting) during the K-UAM Confex 2021, which will be attended by the president of Incheon International Airport Corporation and mayor of Incheon Metropolitan City.